G+_Richard PS Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Any commercial AV or Pro AV folks in the TWiT community? Wondering what people expect from Microsoft this year at the InfoComm International trade show in Vegas next week? InfoComm is the biggest Pro AV trade show in the world and this year will be the first time Microsoft has attended. Oh and by the way Microsoft is a platinum member! They paid big bucks for space on the show floor to be front and center. I'm assuming they'll be pushing Lync but I'm wondering if they have something else up their sleeves. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dave Trautman Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Microsoft is so far away from my mind in regard to AV I can't begin to think what they might have to offer. Although I am serious I can imagine many will take me to task about having this attitude. There are plenty of people doing lots of AV with Microsoft OS machines. But I don't see what they can offer which will specifically improve the experience or the integration with third party apps. I know I'm not being helpful but it just strikes me as a bit of a blind spot in my experience. I'm happy to be educated or enlightened by others. Maybe my blindness keeps me from seeing the contribution they are currently making in this field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Bill Crowe Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I agree. I just don't think Microsoft's mind set would lend itself to being able to provide anything I would be interested in. From some rumors I have heard, Microsoft will be announcing some kind of alliance with Insteon. So maybe some Insteon interface for Xbox? Since Microsoft has not been able to do much in the phone/tablet markets, I think Apple will have a huge advantage with HomeKit since so many people are already carrying an Apple touch interface around with them already. We will have to wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_AV Shop Talk Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Thanks for weighing in Dave Trautman and Bill Crowe. I'm with you. That's why I came here to tap into the "hive mind" to see if I was missing something. When it comes to unified communications and professional video conferencing Lync has potential to make a big splash. I wonder if Microsoft has plans to unveil some sort of purpose built codec. A piece of hardware that could compete with Cisco, Polycom, Lifesize etc. Similar to what Intel did with the NUC. This is purely speculation but if Microsoft did that I can see it being a big deal at InfoComm. If they had a small form factor piece of hardware to compliment their Lync software offering to act as an end point in boardrooms and huddle rooms. Just thinking out loud. Have a good days gentlemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Bill Crowe Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I would encourage anyone, even Microsoft (I'm an Apple fanboy) to create more hardware codec options to compete with the ridiculously over priced hardware and service contracts and almost uninstallable codecs from Cisco, LifeSize, and Polycom. Unfortunately any codec from Microsoft will most likely be inside the Office365 bundle which to me seems to only make sense for large to enormous corporations that are all in with Microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dave Trautman Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Further to Bill Crowe 's point I think MS might be in a better position to leverage its significant server enterprise penetration and step in front of most of the "dedicated system" people. Cisco missed an ocean liner with their telepresence idea. Today things are changing from a dedicated board room and 'huddle room' interaction by groups into a live feed presence on the second screen. I have a colleague who has a monitor to the side on which he is in constant contact with another office. It allows them instant conversations with a continually live feed right there beside them. If MS promoted Link as an always-on presence next to your desktop at work I think people around the world would turn to it. Our provincial government made a huge investment in Fibre some years ago and the killer app for it has been teleconferencing. But their only mind-set is to offer it for mostly group meetings. They are only now, in some ministries, starting to use it for one-on-one discussion, interview, or consultations. It's crystal clear with no latency. Some are in HD too. If MS really wants to leverage their advantage in business this would be the next big thing (in my mind). I can't see Google or Apple getting to the front of that line. Hopefully a new H.xxx codec which scales better for network traffic will emerge and MS rides that pony to the finish line. Unfortunately I don't see a history of success here. Skype gives them something to start with, but I fear that will be absorbed and never given enough oxygen/daylight to grow like it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_AV Shop Talk Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I guess MS doesn't have any plans to make waves. Just lots of money to throw around. Just came across this on Twitter. http://www.commercialintegrator.com/article/microsoft_unveils_infocomm_booth_plans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Bill Crowe Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Well that's pretty underwelming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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